Why Can't I
by esmtz
Summary: Liz Phair. May goes to the Sinnoh region to visit for awhile with her old friends and along the way she meets up with new friends and a new love interest. Jealous Drew and Dawn Pairings:MayxPaul might add others later
1. The Sinnoh Region

Why Can't I

By: esmtz

"Oh man I can't wait to see Ash and Brock it's been way too long!" May said as she stretched. She was on a ship that was taking her to the Sinnoh region.

A few weeks ago, Ash and Brock had called May's parents up and told them to tell her when they talked to her next that there were contests that were being held in the Sinnoh region and had insisted that she come by sometime and visit and maybe even enter a contest.

"I can't believe this is for real I didn't know they had contests here but I guess they do. I'm so excited I can't wait to enter my first contest here!" May smiled brightly as she looked over the side of the ship and saw the town that she was supposed to meet her friends at, "it's too bad Drew isn't going to be here though" she sighed in disappointment "oh well…."

As soon as the ship got closer she started looking around for Ash, Brock and Pikachu.

"I wonder where they are…" May said softly to herself as she put a hand over her eyes looking around.

After a few minutes the ship stopped and everyone started getting off. May quickly followed as she walked off the ship and into the town. As soon as she did she could hear people calling out her name and she turned and smiled happily at them as she ran over to them.

"Hey guys it's been awhile!" May said smiling brightly and hugging Pikachu who had jumped into her arms and hugged her.

"Yeah it has May we're really glad you came to stay with us for a little while" Brock said smiling at her.

"Yeah! We missed you a lot May!" Ash said.

"Thanks guys!" May said and then looked at the girl next to them and was puzzled.

"Oh sorry, May this is our new friend Dawn and Dawn this is May who used to travel around with us a lot" Brock said looking from one girl to the other "Dawn's also trying to be the top coordinator."

"Really? That's great! I guess that makes us rivals then." May said smiling a little as she holds out her hand.

"Yeah it sure does I'm so glad I got to meet you though! Ash and Brock have told me a lot about you May about how you competed in a few festivals and almost won!" Dawn said excitedly as she shook her hand.

May blushes a little rubbing her other hand behind her head "Thanks though it really was all my Pokemon who did the work"

"Oh I know that I've been training for my Pokemon to get them ready for the next contest and man it sure is hard!" Dawn said as she let go of May's hand.

"Well of course it's hard what did you expect for it to be easy?" A voice said from behind Ash, Brock and Dawn and they quickly turn around to face Paul.

May started blushing really hard.

'Who's that?' May thought to herself.

"It's you what are you doing here Paul? I didn't know there was a gym battle here" Ash asked ignoring the fact that Dawn was starting to shake with anger.

Paul snorted as he crossed his arms.

"The only reason I'm here is because I've been looking for new Pokemon but so far no Pokemon here is strong enough to be even remotely important for me to get" Paul replied and watched as both Ash and Dawn grew even more angrier at him.

"You know what if all you're going to do is cause trouble for us then just leave!" Dawn yelled at him.

Paul just shrugged and turned around and started walking away but not before looking at May for a second and then leaving making her blush more.

'Who is he? I really want to know more…' May thought to herself as she kept her eyes on Paul the whole time that he was leaving.

Unbeknownst to May and the rest of the group a certain person had been watching from a distance and saw that May had taken a liking to Paul. He stood there clenching his fists tightly and then walked away.


	2. I'm So In Love With Two

Why Can't I

By: esmtz

"So could someone fill me in here? Who was that guy?" May asked as she tried to hide her blush.

Everyone started heading on their way to the Pokemon center so that they all could get a room and put their stuff away.

"That's Paul he's my rival when it comes to Pokemon battles" Ash replied looking at May.

"Yeah but he's way different from Ash. He treats his Pokemon like dirt and doesn't care at all if he hurts them plus as you heard him say he's only after the strongest Pokemon" Dawn said gritting her teeth still angry.

May looks at her and then looks away smiling slightly to herself.

"Well besides the fact that he acts like that towards everyone I think he's pretty cute" May blushed hard as everyone stopped and looked at May shocked.

"Are you serious May?! Why do you like someone like him?!" Dawn asked a little loudly making everyone jump a little.

"Um…well I don't know I just think that maybe we should try to get to know him more instead of always getting angry with him. Maybe he has his reasons why he acts the way he does" May replied looking away nervously.

"Oh yeah what kind of reasons could there be?" Ash snorted as he and Brock started walking again.

"That's why im suggesting that we try to get him to open up to us" May said frowning slightly "is he really that much of a pain for you to say no?"

"Yes!" Ash said right away not looking at her "trust me he isn't worth it"

May just sighed and shook her head.

"Stubborn as usual"

May hadn't noticed the look on Dawn's face when she said that she wanted to get to know Paul. It was a half annoyed and half jealous but she hid it so it wouldn't look obvious to everyone else.

"Yeah well let's go it's getting dark and we still need to get us a room at the Pokemon center" Dawn said as she walked next to May.

"She's right let's just get going" Brock said.

As soon as they get there they immediately go up to Nurse Joy and she tells them which room they were to sleep in and as soon as they reached the door, the door next to them opened and Paul came out and was startled to see them.

"Oh it's you guys why is it I always end up running into you losers?" Paul asks sighing and then looking at them.

Immediately Dawn and Ash tried running at him but was held back by Brock and May who had their arms around their waists.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Ash and Dawn yelled.

"You guys are annoying as always" Paul says as he puts his hands in his pockets and walks past them and he and May immediately have eye contact and she starts blushing furiously as she watches him walk by and she lets Dawn go.

"Grr I have had just about enough with him and his attitude!" Dawn said as she walked inside the room and quickly grabbed a top bunk.

"Just you wait I'll beat him one of these days and he'll be sorry he ever messed with me!" Ash growled as he and Brock followed Dawn inside.

May stood where she was at for a few seconds before deciding to follow him and as she went back to the main entrance she immediately spotted him headed outside and was about to follow when someone called out her name.

"May is that you?"

May jumped and her heart started pounding hard in her chest.

'Is that Drew? But he wasn't coming here was he?' May thought to herself as she quickly turned around and saw him standing in front of her with a surprised look on his face.

"D-Drew hey I didn't know you were going to be here!" May blushed as she looked at him nervously.

He shrugged.

"Yeah well I thought of trying out some contests here instead I heard that you had to dress up in these contests" Drew said smirking at her as he held up a rose and gave it to her "I also didn't know you were coming here May"

"Yeah well im just here visiting some old friends" May said as she took the rose from Drew still blushing.

"So you weren't here for the contests then?" he asked.

"Yeah actually I am that's the other reason why im here!" May replied.

"It's too bad then May because you still don't have a chance against me maybe if I wasn't here you would actually have a chance!" Drew said flicking his hair and smirking as he watched May's face turn a bright red.

"You know just as well as I do that I can so beat you, you just got lucky last time that's all!" May yelled startling a few people who were around them.

"We'll see about that May!" Drew said as he walked past her and went in the direction where the rooms were at.

"Wait you're spending the night here?!" May cried out as she turned to face him.

"Uh yeah why would I sleep outside when the Pokemon center is here" Drew said looking back at her "is that a problem?"

"W-Well no…"

Drew just smirked as he left.

'Oh no this isn't good great now what?' May just sighed as she sat down on the floor leaning against the nearest wall and put her face in her hands 'I like both of them what am I supposed to do?' she thought to herself.


	3. Pretty Girl

Why Can't I

By: esmtz

The next day, both May and Dawn had started training their Pokemon for the upcoming contest. May was training with Ash and Dawn was training with Brock as they had just finished perfecting their entrance performances and now started working on the actual battle.

"Piplup use bubblebeam! Buneary use your ice beam!" Dawn cried out as she watched her Pokemon's attacks head straight for Brock's.

"Marshtomp, Sudowoodo dodge and use water gun and rock throw!" Brock yelled as both sides continued exchanging attacks.

As they kept on with their match, May and Ash had just finished theirs with May barely managing to get a win over Ash and his Pokemon.

"That was great May im sure you will do a great job in this contest!" Ash said as he recalled Aipom and picked up Pikachu.

"Thanks Ash I sure do feel confident that there's no way I can lose this now!" May said as she hugged her Glaceon and Skitty.

"I still can't believe Drew's here in the Sinnoh region. I thought you said he wasn't going to be here" Ash said frowning slightly.

"Yeah well I didn't know either he just showed up all of a sudden out of nowhere and surprised me" May sighed as she stood up and recalled her Pokemon.

"Well what are you going to do now May, with your crush on him and Paul at the same time?" Brock asked as he took his eyes off the fight for a few seconds to look at her.

May blushed.

"Um im not really sure I just hope that I don't end up in the same room with both of them at the same time"

"Yeah I got it!" Dawn yelled out excitedly as Brock quickly turned back around and saw that both his Pokemon had fainted.

"Good job Dawn!" May said smiling at her.

"Thanks" Dawn replied quietly not looking at her as she recalled her Pokemon making May look at her confused.

'Did I do something wrong to make her mad with me?' May asked herself.

"So finishing up your training for the contest huh May?" May turned and blushed as she saw Drew right behind her as he flicked his hair "it's not going to do you much good though since I've been training hard too myself and I caught some new Pokemon" he said as he looked at her smirking.

"Well I didn't expect anything less from you Drew but like I said before im not going to go down this time especially not without a fight!" May said as she glared at him a little.

"I see you still have that temper of yours careful if you don't want to end up embarrassing yourself in front of everyone" Drew replied as he held out a rose and as usual May took it now really glaring at him.

Dawn looked on at the scene in front of her and immediately started shaking with anger as she started feeling even more jealous of May.

"I'll see you later May I got to go get myself registered for the contest" Drew said as he walked off.

May stood there for a few seconds when she realized that she needed to register as well.

"Dawn come on we have to register for this contest too let's go!" May cried as she and Dawn started chasing after Drew while the boys quickly followed right behind.

As they were running May accidentally bumped into someone as she fell to the ground.

"Ow…im sorry I didn't see where I was….going…."

May looked up and started blushing again as she saw that she had bumped into Paul. He shrugged.

"Its fine don't worry about it" Paul said as he helped May to her feet.

"T-Thanks"

As they were talking Drew immediately saw them and started glaring at Paul, eyes full of hatred.

'Who does he think he is?' Drew told himself as he clenched his hands into fists.

"I'm sure you heard about me, I'm Paul" Paul said introducing himself to her.

"Yeah I heard and my name is May it's really nice to meet you Paul" she smiled at him happily.

"Let me guess are you entering this thing that's happening here?" Paul asked as she nodded.

"Yeah I am actually why are you?" May asked.

Paul crossed his arms.

"Not really interested in doing stuff like that I'm mostly interested in gym battles."

"I'd like to see you battle sometime…I-I would really like to see how you battle" May said nervously as she starting blushing more as she puts her arms behind her, her left hand grabbing her right.

Paul blushed a little.

"Thanks I better let you go since your friends are waiting for you…." He says "plus the way she's looking at me is getting annoying."

May turned and saw that Dawn was gritting her teeth looking at them angrily shaking a little. May sweat dropped.

"Yeah ok…um will I'll see you again sometime?" May asked him.

Paul nodded as he walked away.

"I thought you said we needed to register for the contest so let's go!" Dawn harshly pulled May's arm and dragged her towards the Pokemon center where a crowd of people was standing in line.

Drew continued to watch as Paul kept walking knowing that the next time that he saw him would be the time that he'd punch his lights out.


	4. Paul Vs Drew Think Twice

Why Can't I

By: esmtz

"What was Paul doing at the Pokemon center anyway?" Ash asked as he sat down and started eating.

It was the next day and the group decided to go have lunch at a park where they found a table with chairs to sit on as Brock just finished making them their food.

"Who knows it probably was just a coincidence" Brock replied as he took a seat next to May, who Dawn refused to sit next to, and started eating as well.

"You guys don't think he probably signed up for the contest do you?" May asked looking at her friends barely touching her food.

"Oh please I seriously doubt that was the case" Dawn replied as she swallowed her food "I really can't see him in a contest let alone training his Pokemon" she sighed and shook her head.

May just looked at Dawn and nodded then looked back at her food.

"Something wrong May? You haven't touched your food yet" Ash asked as he looked at her slightly worried.

May shook her head.

"No sorry I was just thinking" May started to eat her food not noticing that Dawn was giving her a look, obviously knowing what she was thinking about.

Brock looked from Dawn to May but didn't say anything as he took another bite of his food.

"So May did your mom send you something to wear for the contest in a few days?" Dawn asked trying to at least be friendly with May and not act as if she hated her.

"Yeah actually she did yesterday while we were registering for the contest. I have my outfit back in our room" May said smiling at her happy to know that Dawn was talking to her again.

"Well that's good. That means the both of you are pretty much ready for this contest" Brock said as he smiled at them.

"I know I am. I'm totally psyched!" Dawn said as she stood up and punched the air "What about you May? This isn't going to be any fun if you aren't ready" Dawn said as she looked at May.

"Don't worry about me I know what I'm doing" May said as she finished her food and stood up and threw away what was left of it "Oh Ash I talked to Misty yesterday. She said she might show up tomorrow and enter the contest as well. Apparently she's been training" May giggled as she saw Ash's face turn bright red as he spit out his food.

"Who's Misty?" Dawn asked looking at Ash, Brock and May.

"Oh nothing just an old friend of ours right Ash?" Brock said as he looked at Ash grinning.

Ash didn't reply as he quickly got up and went to the nearest trash and tried to cough up the rest of his food. May and Brock laughed leaving Dawn to look at them still confused. As they got up and threw away their trash, they decided that they all wanted to go do some more training on their own so Ash and Brock left one way, Dawn left back towards the Pokemon center and May stayed where she was at as she looked around for a bigger spot to train. As she was looking she heard voices coming from behind some trees so she went closer to see who it was. The minute she heard their voices, she stopped and blushed hard red.

"...I warn you stay away from her!" Drew growled as he had his hands grabbing at Paul's jacket glaring angrily at him.

Paul just snorted.

"You can't tell me what to do besides…now that I know you're interested in her too I'm not going to just stay away"

Drew blushed furiously.

"What makes you say I'm interested in her she's just a friend of mine and I know how you guys are I want you to stay away from her or else!"

"Fine if that's how you feel about her but trust me you can't scare me off that easily especially now since I'm going to be in the contest too" Paul said glaring at Drew.

May blushed even more as she tried to not make any noise as she was about to just then.

'H-He likes me?!' May said silently to herself.

Drew gritted his teeth and growled a little louder.

"Do you really think that she's going to fall in love with someone like you?!" Drew spat "you're nothing but trash!"

Paul looked at him very angry.

"You don't know me so if I were you I'd back off!" Paul pushed Drew off of him.

May looked from Drew to Paul and couldn't believe what she was seeing.

'They're fighting over me? I can't be that special…' May told herself as she kept looking on at the scene in front of her.

"You know what how about we settle this at the contest. If we end up fighting each other I'm going to demolish you!" Drew said as he turned and walked off.

"Fine by me" Paul said as he walked the other way.

May just sat where she was at sweat dropping.

"Are all boys like this when it comes to girls?" May asked herself as she shook her head and stood up and went back to looking for a place to train.

As she was walking she ended up finding herself face to face with Paul. She started blushing hard as Paul walked up to her.

"Hey there May what are you doing out here? Training I assume?" Paul asked as he put his hands in his pockets who was also blushing.

"Yeah im just trying to find a bigger place to train though" May said as she averted her eyes not being able to look at him in the eyes without turning even more red.

Paul nodded.

"I thought so….to be honest I'm also looking for a place to train. Do you want to train with me?" Paul asked her as he too lowered his gaze blushing harder.

"Um…yeah sure"

May's heart was beating so fast that she could hear it as she put her hands over her heart. Paul nodded as he and May started walking together.

"May can I tell you something?" Paul asked as he looked at her.

"Yeah go ahead you can tell me anything" May smiled at him, but when she saw his face she started to get worried.

Paul looked at her sadly.

"I've never told anyone about why I act the way I do….it's just I don't really know how to open up to other people"

May nodded as she and Paul kept walking, until they decided to sit down where they could be alone.

"It's about my past" Paul said looking at her seriously.

May looked at him and just sat and listened to what he had to say.


	5. The Past, Rivals, Missing

Why Can't I

By: esmtz

"Ok well it all started I guess you can say when I was really little….I remember that everyday whenever my father came home from work the first thing that he would do would beat me." Paul said flinching a little still looking at May who had her mouth wide open.

"Paul…" May started to interrupt but Paul just shook his head.

"Let me continue. Anyway it didn't matter if he came home drunk or not. It was always the same and my Mother never did anything to try and stop him in fact she was the one who kept encouraging him to hurt me. I guess they just never wanted me in the family. I was an abomination to them." Paul said sadly as he closed his eyes.

'No wonder he is the way he is' May thought to herself sadly as she looked at Paul.

"Then one day my dad ended up hurting me so badly that I was sent to the hospital and as I expected they didn't care. The person who found me and brought me to the hospital was my uncle on my dad's side of the family. I was kind of surprised when he did that especially since I never met him before and so he told me who he was and ever since then I've pushed everyone who got near me away as I knew I couldn't trust anyone after that." Paul sighed as he opened his eyes and looked at May "The memories are too painful so I always act like everybody else is below me to help make me feel better about myself."

May just nodded understanding why he did what he did.

"Paul you know you don't have to feel that way anymore now that im here. You can trust me I would never hurt you that badly and toss you aside like you were nothing plus that isn't true Paul. You've been able to make a name for yourself now that you've started doing gym battles and believe me I will root for you all the way!" May exclaimed as she got a little closer to Paul and smiled at him gently "Of course I still need to root for Ash too."

Paul chuckled a little.

"Thanks May for hearing me out. I didn't think anyone would."

"No problem and if you need to talk to anyone about anything you can always talk to me!" May said blushing a little as she stood up and held her hand out to help Paul up. He took it and stood up.

"Thanks May I might take you up on that" Paul replied smiling at her warmly.

"So Paul I kinda heard you and Drew talking earlier. Were you serious about entering the contest?" May asked as she saw him turn red.

"You heard that huh….yeah I am I already entered when you guys showed up at the Pokemon center" Paul admitted, embarrassed that she heard what he told Drew as he rubbed the back of his head with his free hand as he hadn't noticed that he still had a hold of May's hand.

"Really?!" May's face brightened as she hugged him "Awesome though I'm afraid that this does make us rivals now"

Paul turned bright red.

"Um…yeah I guess it does"

"Just reminding you that it's in three days so you have plenty of time to train and also if we end up facing each other im not going to go easy on you!" May said as she pulled back from the hug and looked at him. He smirked.

"I don't expect anything less from you May" Paul replied "I'm not going to back down either you can count on it"

Both of them shook hands as they headed off to go look for different places to train. Later that night May was about to head to bed when she heard noise coming from outside the room. She went to see what was going on only to find that Misty had shown up early, but she wasn't the only one. May looked from Ash to Gary and saw that Ash looked angry.

"Hey what's going on?" May asked as she walked closer to the group and stood next to Brock who had his arms crossed.

"Well Misty's here and from what it looks like she arrived with Gary" Brock told her.

"Wait she's not going out with him is she?! I thought she liked Ash!" May yelled out in surprise.

"No I'm not going out with him and what makes you think I like Ash!" Misty cried out her face turning bright red.

May sighed.

"Well it's kinda obvious Misty."

Both Ash and Gary left the room and Brock sighed shaking his head.

"Looks like Ash challenged Gary to a battle….again. I better go and be the referee." Brock said as he followed behind them.

"So when did you get here Misty?" May asked her.

"Like half an hour ago. I already signed up for the contest." Misty replied.

"That's awesome!" May said excitedly. But then looked around frowning slightly.

"What is it May?" Misty asked.

"You haven't seen a boy with green hair and a girl with blue hair wearing a hat by chance? I haven't seen them since earlier today" May asked worried.

Misty just shook her head.

"Sorry I haven't. Like I said I haven't really been here that long for me to really run into people." Misty said.

"Oh ok" May sighed "Oh Misty do you know which room is ours?"

"Don't worry about it May, Ash showed me earlier before Gary showed up." Misty replied blushing furiously.

"Wait so you guys didn't come together then?" May asked.

"No of course not it was just a coincidence!" Misty said a little loudly.

"Um…ok" May sweat dropped.

"Well let's just get some sleep for tomorrow. Ash and the others will come back in a bit don't you worry May" Misty smiled as she went to the room.

"I hope you're right Misty" May said silently to herself as she also went back to the room.


	6. The Contest Begins

Why Can't I

By: esmtz

A few days later everybody was finishing their practices for the contest that was happening that day. May, Dawn, and Misty went to go change into their outfits and met up with all the other contestants that were participating.

"Hey there Dawn it's nice to see you here!" Zoey said smiling as she walked up to them.

"Yeah you too Zoey. Guys this is Zoey I met her in my very first contest I participated in and is my rival!" Dawn said as she introduces her friends to her.

"Nice to meet you I'm May" May smiled.

"My name is Misty" Misty said also smiling at Zoey.

Zoey looked at them in shock.

"Really Dawn you're friends with May Maple and Misty Waterflower?!" Zoey asked surprised as she shook their hands.

"Yeah why you heard of them?" Dawn asked as she sighed.

"Of course everybody knows of the great water Pokemon master, Misty as well as one of the most famous coordinators May from Petalburg City!" Zoey exclaimed making both girls blush.

"Um thanks!" Both May and Misty replied embarrassed.

"Is everyone ready for this?" Brock asked as he, Ash and Pikachu came up behind them.

"Oh you bet we are! I can't wait to win my ribbon!" Dawn said confidently.

"Don't forget who you're up against" Paul replied as he showed up with his hands in his pockets looking at Dawn.

"What?! You're participating?! This is a surprise!" Dawn yelled as she clenched her fists.

Everyone sighed.

"Well looks like we got another hot tempered coordinator here don't we?" Drew said smirking as he showed up looking at May's face turning bright red.

"Looks like everyone showed up huh man this isn't going to be easy you guys" Ash said as he looked at the girls.

"Yeah we know Ash since when has anything been easy anyway?" May replied looking back at him but mostly kept glancing in Paul's direction.

"Well anyway we should go find us some seats right Ash?" Brock said as he turned and walked off "good luck you guys"

"We'll be rooting for all of you!" Ash quickly replied as he took off after Brock.

"Well I suppose this is it. I'm not going easy on anyone here!" Misty said.

"Don't worry you wont need to." Zoey replied as they all waited for them to be called up.

As people were called for the first part of the contest, the group watched as other Pokemon did their moves to try and impress the judges. Finally it was Drew's turn, then Misty's, then Dawn's, Zoey's, and Paul's turns were called. After awhile May's turn was up as she went up to the stage and called out her Pokemon.

"Glaceon come on out!" May yelled tossing her pokeball into the air.

As Glaceon came out it was surrounded by a nice blue mist that was shining all around it even as it landed on the ground.

"Use Water Gun above your head then go directly into blizzard!"

Glaceon responded with raising its head and using its water attack making it look like a water fountain and then used its ice attack freezing the water into what looked like pieces of hail and everyone watched as it came down.

"Awesome! Good Job Glaceon!" May exclaimed as the crowd shouted and applauded.

May left the stage and went back to where her friends were at as they all sat and waited to see who was moving on to the next stage.

"May that was great it must have taken along time to perfect that!" Zoey said grinning "I know you will move on I just know it!"

May blushed "Thanks Zoey and yeah it did…actually" she was distracted when she saw that Paul was coming up to her but Drew beat him to her as he flicked his hair.

"Looks like you're getting better May I actually may have a hard time beating you if we face off." Drew said smiling at her as he held out a rose.

"You notice now Drew?!" May yelled a little angry as she took the rose. Drew just laughed.

"What do you mean just now May? I've always known that you would get better."

"What do you mean better? She was and always will be great at being a coordinator!" Paul growled angrily as he stepped closer to Drew, glaring at him.

"That's not what I meant!" Drew gave him a look that anyone who saw it would cower in fear from it as well as from the anger in his voice.

"Oh really what did you mean then?!" Paul yelled not phased by Drew's anger.

"Guys cut it out or you might get kicked out of the contest!" May told them as they both sighed.

"Yeah ok sorry about that May I didn't mean it the way it sounded…" Drew said.

"I know you didn't…" May said but sweat dropped when she saw that both boys were still glaring daggers at each other.

Misty and Zoey shook their heads but Dawn just looked absolutely furious.

"We now have the results…." The announcer said making everyone in the room quiet down "the final eight that will be participating in the next part of the contest are…."

May gasped as she saw who was moving on.


	7. The Kiss

Why Can't I

By: esmtz

"We now have the results…." The announcer said making everyone in the room quiet down "the final eight that will be participating in the next part of the contest are…."

The photos of the eight people were as follows: Zoey, Misty, Dawn, Drew, a girl named Holly, a boy named Ian, Paul, and May.

"Alright you guys we did it!" Misty yelled out excitedly.

"Yeah we all did" Dawn replied as she glanced at May who was smiling brightly.

"Awesome we all made it!" May said and without realizing what she was doing she turned and hugged Paul tightly.

Dawn yelled out in surprise and Drew just stood where he was at rooted to the spot as he glared angrily at Paul who was hugging May back blushing.

"Makes me wonder who is going up against who?" Zoey asked making everyone look back at the screen showing their pictures.

Back on the screen the pictures were flipped and scrambled around and as soon as they flipped over, everyone was in shock.

Drew flicked his hair smirking.

'Looks like I get to go up against Paul. He's going to be sorry he ever messed with me' Drew thought to himself as he and Paul looked at each other with hate in their eyes.

'Perfect I couldn't ask for anyone better!' Dawn said as she looked at May.

"Looks like im up against Ian and you're up against Holly, Zoey" Misty said ignoring the looks that were being thrown around at other people behind her.

"Yep looks that way but even though im participating I can't wait to see how the other battles go" Zoey said as she looked at the boys and Dawn.

Misty looked at them and sighed.

"Well it looks like I'm up first anyway. Wish me luck you guys!" Zoey said as she started to make her way to the stage.

"Good luck Zoey!" the girls replied at once.

Both Misty and May decided to sit down and watch Zoey's battle.

"It's clear who's going to win. As long as I've known her she's been the type to really give you a fight and not back down easily" Dawn said as she took a seat on the other side of Misty.

May nodded.

"I don't expect anything less from her. She knows what she's doing." May said.

"How do you know May?" Misty asked.

"I've seen her battle before" May replied as she watched as both coordinators let out their Pokemon.

After awhile May got up and said that she would be back because she needed a drink of water. As she went to look for the water fountain she noticed that Paul was nowhere to be seen. She sighed as she quickly found the water fountain and took a drink from it. When she was done she turned and accidentally bumped into Paul.

"Oh Paul I didn't see you there!" May blushed "what are you doing over here? Shouldn't you be getting ready for you battle?"

"I just….needed to talk a walk that's all" Paul told her a little hesitantly.

"Oh I see…" May looked at him "Well, why don't you come see Zoey's battle with me? We can sit somewhere else" she quickly added remembering that she was sitting next to her friends.

"Thanks" Paul smiled at her "Um May? Do you….." he hesitated.

"Do I what Paul?" May asked.

"Uh….nothing never mind"

"Oh ok"

'You idiot if you don't tell her you like her that dude with the green hair will!' Paul yelled at himself in his mind as he saw that she was turning to head back.

"Come on Paul lets…."

Paul grabbed May's arm and whirled her around, pulling her into his arms, and quickly gave her a kiss. May's eyes grew wide, but she slowly closed them as she melted into his arms and was kissing him back refusing to stop.

"What the…?!"

Paul and May broke their kiss as they turned and saw that both Drew and Dawn were standing there. Anger was flying in both their eyes and just as they were getting closer to them, Misty showed up.

"Guys it's over Zoey won the match!" she said excitedly as she grabbed both Paul's and May's arms dragging them both back to where they were at leaving Drew and Dawn standing there as anger started growing more inside them.

'He is dead I'm going to make him wish that he was never born!' Drew growled as he shook with rage.

Dawn went back also shaking with anger.


	8. He Loves Me He Loves You Not

Why Can't I

By: esmtz

The next battle ended up being Drew against Paul as they both took their places and held out their poke balls.

"Flygon I choose you!" Drew yelled out.

"Let's go Chimchar!" Paul also yelled as they both tossed their poke balls into the air.

Everyone watched as the two Pokemon emerged from them ready to fight.

"Let's start this off with Hyper Beam! Go!" Drew yelled as his Pokemon responded with directing its attack at Chimchar.

"Chimchar use dig to evade it!" Paul replied.

Chimchar dug its way into the ground completely evading the attack.

"Alright now Flame Wheel!" Paul said as his Pokemon came up behind Flygon from the ground and attacked it.

"Grr…you got lucky. Quick Flygon use dragonsbreath!" Drew growled a little as he said that.

Chimchar would have evaded it, but Flygon got the upper hand as it quickly turned around and countered using its attack on Chimchar.

May looked on as she saw that both sides were losing points.

"Drew does not look happy does he?" Misty said as she turned to look at May.

"Who knew he liked you that much especially since you're not worth having someone to like you at all" Dawn responded not even looking at May but was obviously showing now how pissed off she was by the look on her face.

"What does that supposed to mean Dawn?!" May yelled a little at her starting to get agitated "Is this about me and Paul? Because if it is I thought you didn't like him and if you do like him…" her eyes darkened as she glared at Dawn "I will take you down hard Dawn"

That set Dawn off as she turned her head and gave her a look that told everyone there that she was serious about what she was about to say.

"Ok fine I'll admit it I DO like him in fact I'm in love with him but he pisses me off sometimes so you know what May…bring it I don't want anything less from you or it will be an insult to me and to Paul!" Dawn yelled as she stood up and glared down at May.

May also stood up and stood in front of Dawn.

"It's your funeral Dawn!" May hissed at her "You want my best? You got it I'm not about to back down from this at all"

Misty just sat there and sweat dropped.

"Guys chill remember or do you both want to get kicked out?" Misty said looking at both of them and watched as they took their seats.

"Yeah ok" May shook her head she watched the battle.

Drew's points were almost gone, but Paul's was still half ways.

"Hey what happened?" May asked as she saw that Flygon was looking tired.

"During that fight you guys just had Drew lost his temper and wasn't paying attention to what was happening" Misty replied frowning slightly "I wonder if something Paul told him set him off like that"

May kept her eyes glued to the fight not wanting to miss the rest of it. Few minutes later time went out and Paul had the most points making him the winner.

"Awesome Paul won!" Both May and Dawn said making them both glare at each other.

Misty just sighed.

'Looks like their fight is going to be way worse then the guys' Misty thought to herself as she shook her head.

The announcer announced Paul as the winner as he got off the stage with a big smile on his face while Drew walked off completely frustrated and angry. Both May and Dawn got up and went to go do some last minute talking with their Pokemon. As Misty sat there and watched to see who was next, both Brock and Ash showed up.

"So how's it going down here?" Brock asked.

Misty sighed.

"May and Dawn are fighting over Paul"

Ash looked shocked.

"Dawn likes Paul?!"

Brock sighed shaking his head.

"I figured this was going to happen"

Ash looked at him.

"You knew about her liking him?!"

"Well yeah Ash it was kinda obvious"

Misty giggled as she saw Ash turn a bright pink.

"Oh yeah Misty there was a reason why we came down here" Brock smirked "Ash just wanted to say good luck to you and that he is rooting for you all the way isn't that right Ash?"

Brock laughed as Ash turned even redder as well as making Misty blush.

"Um thanks Ash…" Misty said.

"Well I guess we better go back to our seats before they're taken good luck Misty!" Brock said as he and an embarrassed Ash left.

"Well looks like it's going to be even harder now" Misty said to herself as she watched to see who was up next.


	9. Misty's Fight

Why Can't I

By: esmtz

"Will our next two participants please take the stage!" The announcer yelled out as the next two combatants came out.

"GO MISTY!" Ash yelled.

Misty blushed as she looked at Ash and then turned her head to face Ian.

"I'm ready whenever you are" Ian said as he pulled out a pokeball.

Misty nodded.

"I'm ready too" she replied getting out her pokeball as the announcer said begin.

"Go Charmeleon!" Ian cried out.

"Come on out Starmie!" Misty yelled as they both tossed their pokeballs into the air and watching as their Pokemon got ready for the battle.

"Ladies first" Ian said.

"Starmie use water gun!"

"Charmeleon use dig!" Ian countered as Charmeleon quickly found its way underground as the attack just missed "now flamethrower let's go!"

"What but how?!" Misty cried out as she saw a hole open up below Starmie and a blast of fire come out and hit her Pokemon.

"Misty come on you can do it!" Ash cheered her on.

"Pika!" Pikachu said cheering her as well.

"Hang in there Starmie use hydro pump in that hole!" Misty said.

"Charmeleon quick get out of there!" Ian yelled.

Starmie's attack was so fast that Charmeleon didn't have time to react as it was blasted out of the hole.

"Heh not bad" Ian said "how about this if I win you can go on a date with me how's that?"

Misty blushed, but before she could respond Ash was practically off his seat and yelling something at Ian making Misty turn to look at him blushing even more.

"Oh so you have a boyfriend how about ditching him and come with me?" Ian winked at her.

"I don't think so you're not my type" Misty told him.

"That's too bad, and here I thought about going easy on you" Ian replied.

"Don't underestimate me it will cost you this battle!" Misty told him.

"We'll see. Charmeleon use Fire Blast!"

"Stop it with Hydro Pump!"

Both attacks met in collision causing both Pokemon to hit the walls behind them.

"Oh no Starmie!" Misty cried.

"Charmeleon get up!" Ian yelled.

With less then a minute to go both Pokemon struggled to get up.

"Starmie use recover!" Misty said.

Starmie fully recovered itself and as time ran out all Charmeleon could do was get up but then fall back down.

"Time's up and the winner of the match is Misty!" the announcer said.

"Alright she did it!" Ash yelled out happily but was still glaring a little at Ian.

Brock chuckled as he looked at him.

"Well looks like it's down to May's and Dawn's battle I wonder who is going to pull off a win to make it to the semifinals" Brock said.

Both Ash and Pikachu sweat dropped.

"It's not going to be pretty I can tell you guys that" Zoey said as she walked over to them and took a seat next to Brock.

"How bad?" Ash asked.

"Well lets just say if it wasn't for the fact that they are wanting to participate in this contest they would be pulling each others hairs out" Zoey sighed shaking her head as she crossed her arms "anyway its great that your girlfriend made it to the semifinals" she said smiling at Ash.

Ash blushed.

"Um she's not my…."

"I believe when this is over she will be"

"What makes you say that Zoey?" Brock asked.

"Nothing just a feeling" Zoey replied as she looked down at Misty who was shaking hands with Ian and smiled.

"Well people we have one last match before the semifinals. Lets give it up for May and Dawn!" the announcer said as Misty and Ian left and May and Dawn showed up.

Both girls tried to look as happy and excited about this, but they still couldn't hide the fact that they hated each other and that they both refuse to lose to the other.

"If the two of you are ready then let's begin!" the announcer declared.


	10. May Vs Dawn

Why Can't I

By: esmtz

'I was originally gonna start off with Skitty, but with her calling me out like this I'm going to use my strongest Pokemon' May thought to herself as she grabbed her pokeball.

"Ready May because you are about to get beaten!" Dawn yelled as she too had her pokeball out.

"Oh yeah we'll see about that!" May cried back.

"Blaziken take the stage!"

"Buneary let's go!"

Two bursts of light came forth and out came both their Pokemon.

"Blaze!"

"Buneary!"

The Pokemon said.

"I'll let you make the first move Dawn" May said.

"Buneary use ice beam!"

"Counter with flamethrower!" May replied as both attacks were launched.

Both Paul and Drew sat near Ash, Brock, and Zoey as they watched the battle in front of them.

"Go May!" Both Paul and Drew yelled.

"Grr I have had just about enough of this! Buneary use bounce!" Dawn yelled as Buneary jumped up high and was above Blaziken's head "good now do as we practiced ice beam!"

Buneary started spinning around as it aimed its attack down at Blaziken.

"Blaziken!" May cried as her Pokemon was starting to get surrounded by and frozen by the ice attack "use overheat!"

"Blaziken!" it responded with raising its head and attacking Buneary.

Dawn gasped.

"Buneary no!" Buneary was hit hard with the attack as it fell to the ground "are you ok?" Dawn asked worried.

"Buneary…." It said as it struggled to get up.

"I warned you Dawn that I would get serious" May said as she looked at her.

Dawn growled.

"If Dawn can't keep her cool she doesn't have a chance" Zoey said as she looked at her friend.

"I think you're right Zoey and I have a feeling that this is going to be her downfall just like it was Drew's" Brock replied.

"By the way…" Zoey looked at Brock "where did your friend go?"

Brock looked on the other side of him and saw that Ash was gone and he sighed.

"He probably went to go yell at that Ian guy"

"See what did I tell ya?" Zoey said giggling a little.

For the next few minutes all that was happening was Blaziken easily dodging attacks and quickly responding with counter attacks.

"Dawn if I were you I'd quit. Buneary doesn't look so good" May told her.

"Not a chance! Buneary use your strongest double slap!"

"Buneary!" it used its ears to try and hit Blaziken but it kept missing.

May sighed as she looked at Blaziken.

"Ok let's finish it with sky uppercut!"

Blaziken's attack was direct making Buneary faint.

"Buneary cannot continue. May and her Blaziken are the winners!" The announcer said.

"Alright she did it!" again both boys yelled making them both glare at each other.

"Well looks like they have themselves a new rival" Brock said as he looked from Drew to Paul sweat dropping.

"Well looks like it's between us girls and Paul I wonder who is going to win" Zoey said as she got up "I got to go get ready see ya" Zoey said as she went back to where the contestants were at.

"Alright Blaziken we did it!" May said excitedly.

Dawn recalled her Pokemon and left the area looking like she was close to tears. May also left the area a few minutes later to go and wait to see who was up against who. As soon as she was with Misty and Zoey she saw that Ash was there and was glaring angrily at a boy.

"What's going on here?" May asked.

"Oh nothing just Misty's boyfriend giving Ian there a hard time" Zoey replied making Misty turn bright red.

"I told you he's not my…."

"Yeah sure whatever you say Misty" Zoey laughed.

"I think they're about to say who's up next!" Misty suddenly said making the girls turn to see the pairings.

"Well…look what we have here…." Paul said as he showed up.

"It looks like you and me are gonna battle it out huh Paul?" Zoey said as she looked at him.

Paul just shrugged.

"Whatever"

"That leaves you and me May good luck" Misty said smiling at her.

"Yeah you too" May smiled back.


	11. Semifinals

Why Can't I

By: esmtz

The first semifinal match had pitted Zoey and Paul against each other. Paul ended up winning the match by cleverly using Chimchar to confuse Zoey's Glameow.

"You did your best Glameow thanks" Zoey said smiling a little as she recalled her Pokemon.

"Well looks like who wins goes up against your boyfriend huh May?" Misty said looking at her.

May blushed.

"It looks that way…"

"Will the next contestants please make their way to the stage!" the announcer said.

"Well like I said good luck May you will need it" Misty said as she and May went their separate ways to enter the area.

"This battle is going to be intense for them both especially May" Brock said as he and Ash were watching from the audience.

"Isn't it because that if she wins she goes up against Paul?" Ash asked.

Brock nodded.

"Well let's just see what happens."

Both Misty and May took their places and the announcer began the battle.

"Starmie I choose you!"

"Blaziken take the stage!"

Both Pokemon appeared in a bright light.

"Blaziken lets start this off by using sky uppercut!" May cried out.

"Starmie get behind Blaziken!" Misty yelled.

"Huh?!" May was surprised when she saw how fast Starmie moved.

"Now use hydro pump!"

Starmie spinned making water come out from all of its points as it hit Blaziken hard on the back.

"Blaziken quick flamethrower!" May yelled.

Blaziken's attack missed as Starmie easily dodged it.

"Ok Starmie use swift!"

Again Starmie spun around above Blaziken and shot its attack straight down.

'Oh man Starmie can move! Misty has done a really great job training it so how do I get passed its speed and make a direct contact!" May started sweating a little.

As time passed May tried finding ways to slow Misty's Starmie, but nothing was working.

"Looks like May's in trouble if she can't figure out how to stop Starmie it's over for her plus she also needs to worry about Starmie's recover that could really stop May in her tracks." Brock said looking at the battle.

"Alright go Misty you can do it!" Ash yelled out.

Brock sweat dropped.

'I don't think he heard me'

It was less then a minute now and May knew she had no other choice but to deliver one final attack.

"Ok Blaziken it's now or never. Jump and use your strongest overheat attack!" May told her Pokemon.

"You want to finish it off that way? Ok then. Starmie counter with your strongest hydro pump!" Misty cried.

Both attacks hit the other Pokemon making them hit the ground.

"Oh no, Blaziken!"

"Starmie!"

Time went out and it showed the points on the screen.

"We have a winner. Give a big hand to Misty from Cerulean city!"

People were applauding big time and Ash was practically jumping out of his seat.

"Alright Misty!"

May looked shocked but then she just sighed a little and smiled at Misty and then turned to her Pokemon.

"Thanks Blaziken you were awesome out there!" May said as she recalled her Pokemon and then left the area.

Everyone went to go and congratulate Misty for her victory.

"You were great Misty really awesome!" Ash said blushing.

"Thanks Ash that means a lot coming from you" Misty giggled also blushing.

"Well it looks like it's you against Paul. You ready for this Misty?" Brock asked.

Misty nodded smiling.

"Yeah I am alright"

"Hey Misty you did an awesome job out there" May said as she shook hands with her.

"Thanks May, but you know if it wasn't for the fact that I have more experience in battling then you I'm sure you would have won" Misty smiled.

"Thanks"

Just as both Paul and Misty were about to head on stage, May looked around and noticed that Dawn was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey has anyone seen Dawn?" May asked.

Paul looked at her and then looked around.

"Wasn't she supposed to be here to watch the rest of our battles?" Paul asked a little worried.

"Yeah but I don't think she's here anymore I think she left or something" Zoey replied.

"Why do you say that Zoey?" May asked.

Zoey was holding on to a box that looked like it fit a dress in it.

"Because she left her contest dress here as well as her Pokemon."


	12. End

Why Can't I

By: esmtz

"Why would she leave all her stuff here?" May asked confused.

"Isn't it obvious May? She was humiliated in front of not only the crowd but Paul as well. Imagine if that was you in front of him." Zoey replied a little harshly.

May winced.

"I didn't think she would take it that hard. I thought she was kidding about liking Paul."

"May I know you haven't noticed it but Dawn is a lot like you when it comes to liking someone" Brock told her.

May sighed.

"I guess I shouldn't have gone overboard with using my Blaziken"

"Don't worry about it May I'll go see if I can find her" Brock replied.

"No Brock I should be the one to do it. Besides I need to apologize to her for going off the way I did. I'm just not going to apologize for falling in love with Paul." May told him.

"Don't worry about it May it's my fault I called you out like that" Dawn said as she suddenly appeared in her normal clothes.

"Look Dawn I'm really sorry I shouldn't have used my best Pokemon knowing that you wouldn't have a chance" May said sadly.

"It's part of contests right? People are supposed to use some of their best Pokemon eventually" Dawn smiled a little.

May looked at her surprised to see that Dawn was ok with what had happened.

"Oh and about Paul….I think you two look really good together" Dawn said trying to hide how hurt she really felt.

May didn't say anything as she saw that Dawn had tears in her eyes.

"Guys look the final round is about to start!" Ash said as he quickly ran back to take his seat in the audience.

Brock smiled at both girls as he turned to follow Ash.

"Well it looks like there is nothing left to do now but to see who wins this last round" Zoey said.

"You guys go ahead I'm just gonna head out" Dawn told her.

"Dawn where are you going?" May asked worried.

"I just need to be on my own for awhile. Tell Ash and the others that I will meet them in the next city" Dawn replied as she started to walk away "oh and Zoey? Could you give my dress to Nurse Joy to send back to my mother's? I won't be needing it for awhile"

"Sure Dawn" Zoey looked at her friend very worried.

"Thanks bye guys" Dawn said as she left.

May now felt extremely guilty about what happened and was about to chase after Dawn, but suddenly a rose was right in front of her face.

"You did a good job out there May, but you still need a lot more training if you want to beat me" Drew smirked as he flicked his hair.

May took the rose and looked at him.

"I thought you left already Drew"

"No I just hung back waiting for a chance to talk to you before I go"

"So you wanted to say goodbye?" May asked.

"Well that too, but to really tell you that if he treats you badly I'll take care of him for you" Drew grinned as May blushed.

"Drew just go!"

Drew laughed as he flicked his hair again.

"See you at the next contest May" Drew told her as he left.

"Interesting. He's still in love with you even though you and Paul are together now" Zoey grinned.

May shook her head blushing even more.

"That's not true! I still need to ask Paul about that…" May said shyly.

"Well we all know what the answer is and it looks like Misty won the match!" Zoey said as she heard the announcer declare the winner.

"That's great!" May smiled.

"Let's go where your friends are at. Trust me you want to see this." Zoey grinned as she headed towards the audience.

"Huh what did she mean by that?" May asked as she quickly followed behind.

Everyone was yelling and congratulating Misty as she held up the ribbon for all to see.

"Alright I did it!" Misty yelled happily.

As soon as May and Zoey got there they saw that Ash had ran from the audience and headed towards Misty giving her a hug and a kiss on her cheek. As soon as he realized that he did that he turned bright red, but not as much as Misty whose whole face was red.

"I knew it" Zoey grinned.

"It's about time!" May exclaimed.

May watched as she saw Paul walk up to Misty and congratulate her on her win. May quickly ran from where she was at and towards Paul and the others.

"Hey Paul I'm sorry I didn't get to see your match, but I know that you did great!" May smiled as she hugged him.

"It's ok May. Did you find Dawn?" Paul asked blushing as he hugged her back.

"Yeah she decided she wanted to travel on her own for awhile" May said sadly.

"What?!" Paul asked shocked.

"Yeah I know I was surprised too" May sighed "Paul I wanted to know…are we going to be dating now or not because if we aren't I understand and I'll just travel with my friends"

Paul blushed furiously.

"I know I want to be with you May….and to be honest if you want to stay with your friends then I'll be there with you. Just don't expect me to get along with that loser" Paul said as he nodded in Ash's direction.

May giggled.

"Ok Paul"

As Paul and May were leaning in for a kiss, Misty suddenly cried out.

"What?" May asked.

"Ash asked me out!" Misty blushed really hard and practically had her arms around Ash hugging him and kissing him.

"That's great! Oh and guys Paul is going to be traveling with us from now on!" May smiled happily.

"What?! Oh just great!" Ash yelled.

"Well at least I get to see the reasons why he keeps losing to me" Paul smirked.

"What did you say?!" Ash said starting to get angry.

Everybody just laughed.

"Well guys the contest is officially over and ash it looks like I get to stay with you guys for as long as I want!" Misty smiled.

"That's great! Alright guys let's start heading out for my next gym battle!" Ash cried out excitedly.

As everyone laughed and was walking out of the building, Ash holding Misty's hand and Paul holding May's, May kept thinking about Dawn and wondered if she was ok or not. Brock noticed this and looked at her.

"Don't worry May she will be fine. As soon as we catch up to her we will convince her to join up with us again" Brock said.

"Thanks Brock" May smiled a little as the group went back to rest at the Pokemon center.

THE END


End file.
